Over a century ago, farmers seeing the smoke rising from the mill at Rollo Bay East used to say with a chuckle, "Well, Murdock Gillis is dyeing today! " And for many years after, the mill rising from the dam and creek there was referred to as "The Dyeing Mill Hill". You don't hear it called that any more. The dam has long gone and there is no trace of the mill left standing.

Hallie MacEwen, Murdock's grandson, tells me that the mill was operated jointly by his grandfather and his father, Aylmer MacEwen, who was married to Celina Gillis. The operation was called The Carding Mill and Dyeing Mill. Farmers brought wool to the Carding Mill from as far east as East Point. and west as far as Morell. Wool also came from the Magdalens and was stored in the Matthew & McLean warehouse. Hallie remembers going with his grandfather with horse and truck wagon to bring the Magdalen wool out from Souris to the mill.

The wool was put through the pickers to loosen it up and then a wool oil was added. Next it was fed into the mill and the end product was either rolls or bats. The rolls of wool were spun on spinning wheels at home to make yarn. The bats were used to make quilts and very warm quilts they were. Almost every farmer had a flock of sheep in those days, and customers came to the mill from long distances. They usually waited until their wool was processed and so there would be a great many rigs waiting in the mill yard.

A type of waterpower known as the overshot wheel was first used to run the mill. Later turbine water power was installed. The metal wheel in this type of power was about three feet across with openings all around it that could be opened or closed by a lever in the mill itself. The more openings in the wheel, the more water flowed through and the faster the mill went.

Sometimes a roller or other part of the machinery would get out of place and there would be a pile up as 1hey called it - wool rolling out in a tangle instead of on the cards as it should have. Then there would be a race to shut off the mill and it would all have to be straightened out again. As a kid, Hallie knew that was the time to get out of the mill but he probably found a safe spot to watch the excitement.

There could be trouble not only with the machinery but also with the dam. There was a wastegate to take the overflow of water in time of a freshet but once, at least, the dam broke and that time it took the wooden bridge across the highway with it.

THE DYEING MILL

During the long winter, the women set up their looms and wove cloth from the homespun yarn. In the spring they took it to Murdock Gillis to be dyed. There was no choice of colour, only black. However some cloth was woven in a gray and white check and this was particularly handsome when dyed black.

The dyeing was done in a building separate from the mill in a large iron pot with a fire under it. The cloth was marked with the owner's name and had to be turned continually in the pot by means of a reel with a crank on it set over the pot. Wooden bars on the reel turned the cloth.

When the cloth was dyed, it was taken outside and strung on wooden bars on posts, left to dry and then put through several different processes. First the buffers were used to thicken the cloth and then the nappers took off some of the outside wool. Finally the shearing machine with its long, sharp blades trimmed off the excess fluff and the cloth was ready for the press.

THE PRESS

The irons for the press were metal sheets about half an inch thick and one foot by two feet long. These were put in groves on their sides in an oven to be heated. Each sheet had a handle on each end for carrying from the oven to the press.

The first layer in the press was brown paper, then the first layer of hot flat irons overlaid again with brown paper and then the cloth. Next another layer of brown paper, the irons, more brown paper and more cloth. This was repeated until the press was filled. Then the top was screwed down tight and left overnight. Next day it was taken out, rolled up and ready for the owner to pick up.